Bhutan The kingdom of the dragon, has a long history and a strong cultural background. Originally it is thought that people migrated from Tibet. Theses aboriginal bhutanese also known Monpa planted the seed of a nation in one of the highest reaches of earth. Bhutan is a land locked nation full of rugged and often steep mountains. The country borders India (another SAARC country), Tibet (currently administered under China). Compared to other SAARC countries it is a modest 47, 0000 square Kilometers and a population of (estimated) 675,000.
The country has recently seen the transition from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional Monarchy. This together with a more open approach to promoting tourism in the country has brought the country to a new modern era. Bhutan conservative by tradition was one of the last countries to formally make televisions and internet legal.
India over the centuries has forged a strong relationship and even trains the local army. Bhutan and India are the only two SAARC countries that allows visa free passage and non restricted working conditions for their citizens across the border.Indian and bhutan also share another dream of SAARC, a common currency. Theses two countries formally recognize each-other’s currency as legal tender. This is quite a significant achievement for the region as it seeks to extend this to all SAARC members and we hope one day would be a reality.
Trongsa Dzong, Bhutan. Photo taken April 24, 2002. Copyright (c) 2002 by William L. Devanney,Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation license, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation license“.
